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ProCredit Bank launches new ecological initiative

June 11, 2015

ProCredit Bank has launched a new ecological initiative with a grand event in Yuzhen Park in Sofia. The initiative aims to encourage replacing plastic bags with an environmentally friendly alternative. Under this campaign, the Bank is to give away 150,000 textile bags, made from 100% organic cotton, to remind people that it is up to everybody to protect the environment.

Plastic bags are the second most common form of waste, with a billion and a half plastic bags per year in Bulgaria alone. According to data from 2010, every European citizen used 200 bags per year on average, as EU statistics on one of the biggest polluters of modern consumer society shows. Plastic carrier bags are used once, for about 30 minutes on average, and then disposed of. When thrown away, they decompose into small toxic parts in the soil, and they can be ingested by animals and thus enter the food chain. It takes hundreds of years for the bags to fully decompose and this process gravely affects the seas and the oceans, where huge islands of plastic waste are formed.

„We are aware that the world cannot change overnight, but we are convinced that changing our habits involves an effort which we must make for the sake of our children. Together, when we replace plastic bags with reusable cotton ones, we make a real contribution to reducing the quantity of plastic bags all around – both in the soil and in the water", says Emilia Tsareva, Executive Director at ProCredit Bank.

Within four years all EU member states have to reduce their annual consumption of plastic bags by half, and by another 20% before 2025. The reduction targets are set forth in the Directive on plastic carrier bags, which was confirmed by the MEPs earlier this year.

The initiative will be carried out in all Eastern European countries in which the ProCredit group operates – Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Macedonia, etc. ProCredit banks in those countries plan to give away a total of 630,000 cotton bags, all of which were produced in Bulgaria by Aliana OOD in Haskovo, a long-time client.